Rise Above
by v2point0
Summary: Dreamwave/G1 AU. Sequel to Parapsychology. Failed attempts to teach Sunstorm to control his powers drive the two Seekers into an argument. But as things seem to grow hopeless... Acid Storm/Sunstorm; SLASH


Sequel to_ Parapsychology_. :}

**Title**: Rise Above  
**Rated**: PG  
**Warnings**: Mild profanity and mech cuddles, uguu.  
**Pairings**: Acid Storm/Sunstorm  
**Summary**: Failed attempts to teach Sunstorm to control his powers drive the two Seekers into an argument. But as things seem to grow hopeless...  
**A/N**: WAFF FUUUCK. For **Lingering**, **beebot** and **midydoof**.  
**Disclaimer**: I own nothing. :[

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**Rise Above**

**By B**

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"All right, okay. Let's try this one more time."

"'One more time'? Have you not said that the last two times?"

"Well, third time's a charm, so they say. Just... focus."

"Hmn."

"Don't think of anything, anyone. Nothing. Not even Primus."

"Primus is always within my processors. Though I may not be discussing Him, He is there."

"Yes, well, then let Him take the back seat for a minute."

"That would--"

"Look. Just... listen to me. Okay?"

"... As you wish."

"Okay. Good. All right. Let's... try again."

Very carefully, the dark hands lowered a plastic container over the spread white ones, open and waiting. Then, a moment later, they placed the container on the two white palms. Not long after contact, the plastic started to melt, dripping in thick translucent liquid down the white hands, through the pale digits.

Acid Storm sighed while Sunstorm frowned. Both of them were disappointed. The camouflaged mech sat back in his seat, one hand pressed against his forehead. "Same result. Again," he muttered, massaging at the sensitive circuitry beneath his temple plating. Acid Storm's red optics shifted to the plastic goo puddling beneath Sunstorm's outstretched hands. "Were you focusing?" he asked again. "You need to learn to relax your spark core."

"Believe me, if you can, as I know it has been hard in the past," Sunstorm said sourly, shaking the liquid off his hands, "I was focusing. I have been trying to relax my spark and the connections to my weaponry core." He tilted his head. "Primus made me this way for a reason. Do you think He is trying to forbid me from changing?"

Acid Storm scowled. "That's not true," he disagreed. "You admitted some time ago that your powers were significantly weaker before your 'death.' That has to mean something." He thought for a moment, to find words that might appeal to the yellow Seeker. "That Primus isn't adverse to you changing or at least, losing and controlling some of your powers."

"Perhaps," Sunstorm hummed.

The green Seeker frowned. For the past six orns, he had been attempting, trying to teach Sunstorm to control his powers. After repairing him, the moment he was outside of his pod, not entirely online, the radiation he emitted, while unaffecting him, nearly melted his entire lab. Acid Storm had to keep Sunstorm in stasis for another week as he adjusted his quarters were a powerful inflammable coating. He and a few other scientists had been working on the casing during his days at Iacon Science Academy, testing it against the heat and radiation of a distant sun and-- Well, Sunstorm had no interest in science, so the story was never really told. Sunstorm just needed to know that after a week of applying this thick coating around his lair, it was the only reason nothing he touched remotely had melted. It did not, however, work on Sunstorm himself.

However...

"My powers, I must be controlling them somehow, some way," Sunstorm said a moment later, looking over his hands, still sticky with the melted plastic. He glanced up at his fellow Seeker with those yellow optics. "After all, how else do you explain my interactions with you? You who is immune to my heat and radioactive powers. Can you give me the answer, scientist?"

Acid Storm looked aside. He didn't have the answer, that was the problem. He knew where this would go, though, if he did answer. He'd say he "wasn't sure, still hadn't figured it out" and Sunstorm would say it was "Primus's will" and the conversation of science verse theology would go in full circle again. Instead, he changed the subject: "Maybe we should try something stronger? Steel."

Sunstorm just nodded, not entirely listening. Acid Storm, he knew, didn't think he was trying. But he _was_ and very hard. It wasn't like he didn't _want_ to control his powers, like he wanted to destroy everything he touched. Heathens, sinners, sure, but not just some random object like a cube of energon he desperately needed to drink to stay active. But no matter how focused he was, no matter how hard he tried, it seemed the results remained the same.

The yellow Seeker watched his partner gather to his feet, thrusters clicking on the ground as he crossed the room, returning with a small steel box. He sat down in front of him again, holding up the box. "Now, take a moment to relax, a moment to steady your processors," Acid Storm said, steadily, voice nearly tapering off into a tone suggesting he was speaking to a child. Sunstorm hated it but just nodded, his fans humming as he flickered his optics offline, to take a minute just to push all thoughts and emotions from his cerebral processors.

As if a silent agreement passed between them, Acid Storm slowly raised and placed the box in Sunstorm's hand. Sunstorm stirred when he felt the cold steel, optics still off. The corner of his flatline frown twitched, a sign he really was focusing. Acid Storm nearly smiled when half a minute passed and the steel box was still intact. However, before he could speak too soon, the bottom of the box started to melt, bubbling into dark liquid, shrinking into a puddle.

"Slag!" Acid Storm cursed, throwing himself back in his chair. It scraped violently across the floor and Sunstorm onlined his optics. He looked to the half melted box in his hands and scowled, carelessly throwing his hand down. The remainder of the box and splotches of hot liquid steel clattered and dotted along the floor. Acid Storm cursed again at the mess, but neither seemed to care much.

Acid Storm's wings hitched as he thought. "Okay, okay," he sighed, flustered, "I think if we try--"

"We are done," Sunstorm interrupted. His tone was firm and left no room for argument. He swept the rest of the black and transparent liquid from his hands. "We are finished. For today, that is." He stood, wings raised in irritation. He wasn't the only one just as pissed by the results.

"We should try one more ti--"

"One more time will lead to another and another, four times, five times, six times, dozens of attempts onward," Sunstorm cut in again. His glare moved to the liquid at his feet. "No, we are finished. Primus would have intervened if He wanted this."

Acid Storm bit his dental plates together. "You can't just--" _use some slagging god to cop out._ He shook his head. "Look, things don't happen over night. Sometimes it takes just a couple cycles, sometimes vorns. But that doesn't mean you should give up," he explained, controlling his anger the best he could.

Sunstorm looked at him, looked into those red optics. He then moved forward from his chair, taking Acid Storm's face in his hands. "What are--" the scientist mumbled before his words were cut. Sunstorm kissed him, hard, deep and for a moment, it was merely lips to lips, nothing more. But with a little push from the tip of Sunstorm's glossa, Acid Storm reluctantly went to open his mouth, to accept something more but-- He quickly shoved Sunstorm back with a bitter scowl. "What are you trying to do!? Don't change the subject!" he spat.

"I am not changing the subject," Sunstorm insisted, hurt, "I am attempting to show you how I have controlled my powers. Enough to--"

"Embrace me, kiss me, I know!" Acid Storm snapped.

"The _only_ important thing," Sunstorm stated. His hands dropped to the green Seeker's knees. "I believe Primus never decreased my powers. He only gave me more. A gift, to be able to touch and hold you. You and only you and nobody, nothing el--"

Acid Storm stomped to his feet. "I'm done with this conversation," he seethed. He pointed an accusing finger at the other Seeker. "Primus or not, it's obvious you're either not trying hard enough or you just don't have any control of your powers. I'd understand if it was the latter, I would, but there's no proof of that being true. Obviously I'm a prime example. Even then, if you're really not trying..." He broke off with an angry growl. "What do you have to lose by harnessing your powers? Are you refraining yourself from doing so because you think that's what Primus would want? Is that it?"

"I told you once as I have told you dozens of times before," Sunstorm said, keeping his voice calm, "I have indeed focused and tried my best to control my powers during our tests. I do not use Primus as an excuse when I fail. I believe my failures, however, must have _something_ to do with Primus's will. As I said, if He wanted me to change, He would have made it so the first or second test. That has to--"

"So you're giving up?" Acid Storm hissed. Sunstorm glared at him. "Fine, give up. I don't care if it's because of Primus or if you just don't care; just give up. It'd be a waste of time trying to teach you when you don't care," he sighed heavily, raising his hands. He moved to his closet of cleaning supplies. "Right now, I got to clean up this mess. You can go... do what you want. Take a walk or a nice long flight. The planet's barren; your radiation won't affect its ecosystem."

Sunstorm felt heat rising in his chest, heat not generated from his powers. "So now you have given up on me?" he asked quietly. Acid Storm just kept fiddling with his cleaning tools, removing something akin to a mop crossed with a vacuum. The cold shoulder made Sunstorm shiver with the heat of rage. "You would assume that I do not care? When, even after I have said Primus is against it, I kept trying? Not once, not twice, but now several times through the past six orns?"

Acid Storm wanted to tell him to just... leave, but kept quiet. Maybe if he ignored him, he'd leave. They both needed to cool their heads. Besides, he needed to do another coating on the room anyway.

Sunstorm, however, was only getting angrier. "You believe I would not try, honestly, to suppress my powers at will? Even though I know that you have put in so much energy and patience in trying to help me? That I would just take your help for... granted?" he demanded, tone rising.

Those words stung. Acid Storm opened his mouth, then closed it. No, no, he didn't want to start another argument. It'd only go into some religious jibber jabber. He was in no mood for that. He took out his tool and filled it with cleaner to remove the drying plastic and steel pools easily.

Sunstorm would have none of this, however and when he finally realized he wasn't going to get answers the simple way, he drew to his feet, wings high. He marched over to the green mech, yanked the tool from his hand and squeezed it. "Is that what you believe!?" he snarled. The object began to melt as his yellow energy field sizzled. "You think I do not care, did not try!?"

"You've yet to prove otherwise," Acid Storm snapped and took back his cleaning machine. Sunstorm had melted a grip on the handle, perfectly leaving indents of his coiled fingers. His red optics pierced the yellow's. "I think you're only satisfied with being able to touch and handle me alone. I don't think you care about anything else but that."

The yellow mech ground his dental plates. "You call me 'selfish,' when you..." he trailed off. So much anger was flushing through his chassis right then and there, he was ready to explode into flames. Rather, as he started shaking, he threw back a hand, letting it slap hard against Acid Storm's desk. "You are too stubborn to--"

"You're just as stubborn, aren't you?" Acid Storm countered. "You're just as bad."

"Yet to claim I would not try to change for..." Sunstorm stopped. His fingers dug into the table and Acid Storm could see wisps of smoke pour from his hand. The yellow Seeker finally straightened. "Take a flight then. Perhaps you are right. A little praying is in order, I suppose." The camouflaged Seeker scowled internally at the final words. Sunstorm just sneered and let his hand drop back to his side. He said nothing more, engines revving as he took off out the door.

Acid Storm watched him leave. His optics went to the table, where a burnt imprint of a hand was left behind in the burning steel.

----

Four days passed and Sunstorm never returned from his little break.

The first day he failed to return, Acid Storm didn't mind, didn't worry. Still sulking, he figured. Not like he wasn't. He had spent an hour welding his desk back to normal. A break between the two Seekers was a breath of fresh air. By day two, Acid Storm figured the reasons remained the same and that Sunstorm was even more stubborn than he anticipated.

However, day three he was restless, hardly able to focus on his research or recharge. Every hour he told himself Sunstorm would show up, back to obliviously preaching about Primus with a proud smirk on his face. By the end of the day, Acid Storm laid in his berth, wide awake, for hours, spending another couple hours staring out the window, debating between going out and finding Sunstorm or just sitting there and watch for his return.

As the morning of day four rolled around, Acid Storm gathered some supplies and left his quarters. Concern cycled rampantly in his processors. Had Sunstorm's anger gotten him in trouble somehow? Or had he merely ran off, never to return? It wasn't like Sunstorm had any obligation to stay. Acid Storm told him he could go a day after he returned online. But over time it just felt... natural for Sunstorm to be there. They had even bonded once, though Acid Storm didn't think it meant much. Sunstorm, on the other hand, seemed to believe it made them official bondmates for life now.

And Acid Storm winced--he was certainly _acting_ like a partner whose lover had ran out on him. No, he told himself, Sunstorm was still young, still naive. He needed to find him so he didn't cause any trouble to himself or others. _He's still got a lot to learn,_ the Seeker thought to himself, _I'm the only one who can help him, so, so, so of course he has to come back._

But hadn't Acid Storm admitted not too long ago that he was basically giving up on the yellow mech? Told him he wasn't going to help someone who didn't want to help themself? And yet, he knew by Sunstorm's words, he was wrong. Sunstorm _did_ want to change, he just wanted to know _why_ he hadn't been able to. He wasn't surrendering to Primus, he was just trying to find the source of his problem and--change? What could he do? Sunstorm believed praying helped immensely.

_He said he was going to do some praying_, Acid Storm remembered this almost too clearly. _Maybe he was praying, asking for help or reasons as to why Primus supposedly was not allowing him to change? Or so that's what he thinks..._

Acid Storm froze mid air, hand to his forehead. _Shit_. If that were true, even if Acid Storm didn't believe it, it was obvious Sunstorm was trying to change. Like a question, he was searching for an answer. Acid Storm would look at the components and pieces of the puzzle to put the question together, to receive an answer. Sunstorm prayed to get his.

_Slagslagslag_. Guilt was washing through him. As he flew through the barren atmosphere of the lonely little planet he called home, panic set in. Sunstorm was gone now. No sign of him on his radar, no blip of his presence from the small homing device he had planted under the Seeker's wing shortly after reviving him. Maybe Sunstorm found it? Removed it? Broke it? It was like a collar, who wouldn't destroy it? And Acid Storm suddenly felt horrible for choosing to tag Sunstorm like some damn lab rat.

_To him, I'm some sort of gift from Primus, a prized apostle. And I've been treating him like he's a slagging experiment._

Hope was dwindling. He had been flying around the moon for nearly six hours now. Part of him wanted to go home, give up, believe Sunstorm had gone somewhere where he wouldn't be looked at as a puzzle. But the other part wanted him to continue, to trek forward, to find Sunstorm and apologize for his behavior. And as he floated there, not really paying attention to his search, that was the moment when a blip on his radar winked on the screen.

Acid Storm quickly turned his attention to it. A single yellow dot in the middle of the green screen was flashing, stationary. Sunstorm, it was Sunstorm. According to the radar's data, the signal was coming about fifty feet below him, another sixty beneath the moon's surface. There was no sign of entrance anywhere, not until a quick glance around revealed a cave a few yards away. A hole big enough for him to squeeze into, and it most likely led underground.

As his speed decreased to a slow landing, Acid Storm vaguely remembered mapping this area. It was nearly a hundred miles from his lair. Retrieving data in his memory banks, he remembered that a fifteen times thirty radius of ground above was home to a lush pool of nequil beneath. Now what was Sunstorm doing down there?

Acid Storm cautiously ducked into the cave. His wings flattened against his back, he had to wiggle about a few times before popping inside. Crawling a few feet farther into the darkness, his hands groping in front of him, he felt the edge of a drop. Optics casting two beams of light, he looked into the hole. Straight down below, big enough for him to climb down with ease. Recent disheveled dirt around the entrance of the cave and the edge of the hole suggested activity. Most likely from Sunstorm.

So Acid Storm carefully made his way down the hole, extending two hooks from his wrists to dig into the ground and allow him to move without losing grip. The closer he drifted, the more darker it got. His radar hiccupped on and off, but at this point in time, he didn't need it. Sunstorm wasn't far off. Acid Storm accessed his private comm link, but got only static. He wasn't sure if he should attempt to contact Sunstorm first or surprise him. The latter seemed dangerous, but with communication down, he had no other choice.

A few minutes later, the hooks unlatched themselves and Acid Storm fell down the hole a yard, landing gracefully on his feet. Shaking the dirt from his optics, he looked up, awed. Set before him was a giant river of green liquid, the cave hollow eighty-two feet up. He couldn't see where it ended and where it began, but moving carefully forward, he slowly remembered visiting this area before.

However, something was very different about it.

Along the shores and banks of the underground river were dozens of blue nequilian flowers. That was nothing unusual, as the nequilians flourished on the nequil waters. But he didn't remember there being so _many_. While the flowers tended to usually keep very close to the liquid, they were spreading, branching out farther away. Something he had not yet witnessed before.

Upon further investigation, Acid Storm noticed the soil had been tended delicately to. It was fresh, clean, soaked with nequil. The soil itself could not do this without help. The way the flowers grew, the patterns, suggested the hand of something stronger, intelligent, guiding them in these perfect rows. And as he wandered in deeper, farther from the river, he began to wonder...

Had Sunstorm been the one to-- No, it was impossible. The radiation, the heat, no, it would kill the soil, kill the flowers and dry out the nequil. But then, how did all these flowers grow as if they had been planted? His radar had picked up no unknown signature on his way down that would suggest someone else was lurking under this planet. But then again, it could be their energy signatures merely did not register.

Thus Acid Storm activated his null rays. Just in case he stumbled upon a lifeform that proved dangerous, he had to be prepped to attack. He hoped it wouldn't come to that, however. Sunstorm was here, he knew that, even if the radar had been out long enough for Sunstorm to have moved. This underground valley was large, caves running along the walls, leading deeper and deeper under the moon, giving the yellow mech plenty of hiding spots and means to escape.

The Seeker slowly moved around a wall of Earth, following the trails of flowers. It was only until he had stepped around the wall did he nearly stumble over on his rear. Optics wide, Acid Storm gaped as he looked around the area. The nequil was too far a distance for the nequilian to grow, but they flourished, in a lush garden of navy and azure blue. Not only from the ground, but vines budding with other flowers he had seen growing under the planet, violent purples, yellows and reds, lining the walls.

And it was all perfectly kept. Organized, free of weeds, free of any mess. There was even a thin aisle of dirt cutting through the large garden. That _definitely_ had to made by someone. And this--yes, it could only be a garden. Nothing more, nothing less.

Red optics following the path, they stilled in shock on a familiar figure. Sitting in the middle of the aisle was Sunstorm himself. He was studying the flowers nearby, clicking digits on his knees. "I know you have been down here for a while now," the yellow Seeker said softly, never lifting his gaze, "you might as well speak."

Acid Storm swallowed. "I..." He was still shaken with alarm. "Did you... do all of this?" he whispered, giving the garden another astonished look around. "This is amazing!"

"It is natural you would be shocked," Sunstorm replied. He stood, dirt caking his knees and legs. "After all, you believed I could not handle something without burning or killing it."

Acid Storm frowned. "Look," he hummed, hands raised harmlessly, "I want to apologize for what happened. For what I said. I believed you didn't want to change, but I guess it was just you trying to think of some way to explain why you hadn't been able to... change through the tests. Not an excuse to stop, just an excuse to try and make sense of it..."

Sunstorm eyed him. "Not entirely," he murmured. Acid Storm quirked an optic ridge. "Part of me wanted to stop. Believed it was all pointless. But..." His yellow optics turned to the flowers. "You made me want to change after what you said. I felt guilty, yes; angry, definitely, but... It was then, I felt entirely motivated." He opened his arms to the flowers around him. "So I went off to study and work on my own. You needed your space and I needed mine. Praying helped, but I also did what you told me to. Just focus."

"And..." Acid Storm murmured, moving closer. "You did... all of this?" He was still speechless.

Sunstorm said nothing, but what he did instead spoke volumes. As Acid Storm walked up to, he reached down and picked up an armful of flowers. He stood, hugging them and they remained intact. The green Seeker waited a minute for them to melt, but they didn't. "How is this?" Sunstorm asked, and held out the flowers. "I believe inspiration to control my powers comes from you. Primus as well, but motivation to prove myself made this garden grow. I am sure if I had not kept both you and Him in mind, I would not have succeeded in what you see around you now."

It was patience, determination that made him succeed, Acid Storm knew, but right now... Right now he wanted to indulge in the idea that _he_ had been the leading cause. "I am..." he paused, taking the blue flowers. He strode closer, leaning in to press a gentle kiss to the other mech's lips. He stood back, his smile unwavering. "... Very proud of you."

Sunstorm blinked before smiling, flattered. "I knew it would meet your approval," he chuckled and returned the kiss, one hand on Acid Storm's arm, the other tenderly touching the flowers in his other. The flowers that did not melt, did not wither and die. Sunstorm gently nuzzled his cheek to the side of the green Seeker's helm, purring softly. Acid Storm smiled weakly, nudging back.

The yellow mech stepped back. "So," he snickered, "you came looking for me, I see. Did you miss me?"

Acid Storm flushed. "Well," he grunted, rolling his shoulders back and composing himself. "I wanted to make sure you weren't getting yourself into trouble." He turned up his nose with a little snort.

"As you say," Sunstorm crooned, grin sly.

"What's important is if you're ready to return?" Acid Storm inquired stoutly.

Sunstorm gazed around. "Not quite yet," he answered. He slowly sat down, stretching out his legs, feet rustling over the flowers. "I would like to stay a little longer." He grinned up at the Seeker standing beside him. "Why not sit with me, look upon the work you helped to build?"

Acid Storm chuckled at his words. "I suppose so," he said. He slowly sat down, back and wings straight. "Would that make me on the same level as Primus?" he teased, leering mischievously at Sunstorm.

Sunstorm laughed. He moved closer, arms wrapping around Acid Storm's shoulders. "I would not go as far as to say that," he purred, "you still have a long way to go before you meet His powers."

With that, Sunstorm yanked Acid Storm down onto the ground. The green Seeker accidentally threw up his flowers as he fell over, petals of blue raining down on the laughing mechs.

* * *

END

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Title inspired by "Rise Above This" by Seether. Doesn't really apply to this, but maybe just slightly. Hope you liked.


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